Media Fellowships Guidelines

Please note: The 2009 application deadline has passed. Please check back again in summer 2010 for the next call for applications.

The Soros Justice Media Fellowships support writers, print and broadcast journalists, bloggers, filmmakers, and other individuals with distinct voices proposing to complete media projects for local, regional and national markets that engage the public and provoke policy responses to one or more of the Open Society Institute’s U.S. criminal justice priorities. The fellowship program intends to mitigate the time, space, and market constraints that often discourage individuals from pursuing important but marginalized, controversial, or unpopular issues in a comprehensive manner.

Media fellowships are one year in duration, and fellows are expected to make their projects the primary focus of their work during the term of the fellowship. Projects can begin in either April or September of 2010.

Photography projects (production or distribution) are not eligible for funding. For information on support for this type of work, please see the OSI Documentary Photography Project.

Note: Please be aware that the Soros Justice Fellowships Program is separate and distinct from the Open Society Fellowship, an OSI program that supports individuals seeking innovative and unconventional approaches to fundamental open society challenges. While both fellowship programs share a common interest in open society issues generally, the Soros Justice Fellowships have an express focus on U.S. criminal justice issues.